The University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia had numerous fraternities and sororities. Since the establishment of several social fraternities in the 1850s, the university's student organizations have expanded to include sororities, professional organizations, service fraternities, honor fraternities, and cultural organizations. Fraternities and sororities have been significant to the history of the University of Virginia, including the founding of what a now national fraternities: Kappa Sigma () and Pi Kappa Alpha ().
Roughly thirty percent of the student body belongs to a social fraternity or sorority, with additional students involved in professional, service, and honor fraternities. Many of the university's fraternities and sororities are residential, meaning they own or rent a house for their members to use; many of these houses are located on Rugby Road and the surrounding streets, just north of the university. Additionally, three social fraternities hold reserved rooms on the Lawn and the Range: Kappa Sigma in Room 46 East Lawn, Trigon Engineering Society in Room 17 West Lawn, and Pi Kappa Alpha in Room 47 West Range. Various NPHC and MGC organizations also have Lawn rooms of historical relevance to their particular chapters as well.
Reflecting UVA's tradition of student self-governance, the system is currently governed by four Greek Councils consisting of student leaders; however, it is also overseen by the Department of Fraternity and Sorority Life in the university's Office of the Dean of Students.
History Fraternities were first founded at UVA a few decades after the school's establishment in 1819. Before this time, social life at the university was fixed around debating societies; the now-defunct Patrick Henry Society, for instance, initially had a membership nearly equal to the size of the student body. In the 1850s, the first fraternities began to appear and assumed a significant role in the student body's social landscape. In the following decades, the university became the birthplace of two national fraternities and saw many more fraternity chapters chartered. The twentieth century saw the system expand even more to include professional fraternities, social sororities, local fraternities, and black fraternities and sororities. Moving into the 2000s, several new social organizations were founded, including multicultural organizations.
1800s: debating and secret societies
For several decades following the founding of the university, the major student societies on grounds were the debating societies. Several of these societies, notably the Jefferson Literary and Debating Society and the Washington Literary Society and Debating Union, are still active today. These and other debating societies that are no longer in existence, such as the Philomathean Society and the Parthenon Society, served as the primary means of student societal activity in the early days of the university.
In the decade before the Civil War, eleven fraternities established chapters at the university. The first was Delta Kappa Epsilon, or DKE (), which was founded in 1852 as a "secret" colony and remains active to this day. Faculty were originally against the creation of fraternities due to years of riotous behavior among the students and attacks upon faculty. According to University historian Philip Alexander Bruce, the faculty feared the "orderly spirit of the student body acting as a whole or in segments, whether organized into secret fraternities or Calathumpian bands." Despite these objections, however, a chapter of DKE was founded, and other fraternities followed. It can be said generally about the early UVA fraternities that the only "secret" aspect of them was their operation and meeting location; the membership was not kept secret. As is the case with most modern fraternities, the original fraternities on grounds were meant to provide social engagement and promote close ties between members.
Fraternity growth was interrupted by the Civil War, as men from many Southern colleges halted their studies to join the Confederate army. Many fraternity chapters ceased to exist during this time, but some students made efforts to preserve their fraternities as the war continued. Harry St. John Dixon, a member of Sigma Chi from the University of Virginia, joined with four other Sigma Chi brothers from other universities to form the Constantine chapter of the fraternity. Created in 1864, this chapter was meant to preserve the bonds of the fraternity during the war, promote ties between the North and South, and ensure the fraternity's continued existence.
The expansion of fraternity life resumed after the war; by 1892, there were eighteen fraternities on grounds. Fraternities began to share the social spotlight with ribbon societies at the university, which was founded in reaction to the fraternities' social exclusivity. The ribbon societies, such as Eli Banana and T.I.L.K.A., were originally meant to increase social involvement among students, but eventually took on a political role in the university as well. They became particularly prestigious, mainly pulling their membership from fraternities, and election to their societies was considered a high honor. Despite this social competition, fraternities continued to grow at the university.
1868: founding of Pi Kappa Alpha Pi Kappa Alpha was founded on Sunday evening March 1, 1868, at 47 West Range at the University of Virginia, by Robertson Howard, Julian Edward Wood, James Benjamin Sclater Jr., Frederick Southgate Taylor, Littleton Waller Tazewell Bradford and William Alexander. On March 1, 1869, exactly one year after the Alpha chapter at the University of Virginia was formed, the Beta chapter of Pi Kappa Alpha was founded at Davidson College. Expanding the fraternity proved difficult because the Civil War disorganized many Southern colleges, and many colleges banned the formation of secret societies.
After almost a decade of decline, Pi Kappa Alpha was re-founded as part of the Hampden-Sydney Convention, held in a dorm room at Hampden–Sydney College. Pi Kappa Alpha was not originally organized as a sectional fraternity; however, by constitutional provision it became so in 1889. It remained a Southern fraternity until the New Orleans Convention in 1909, when Pi Kappa Alpha officially declared itself a national organization. Originally, Pi Kappa Alpha's membership was restricted to white men, but the race restriction was removed in 1964.
1869: founding of Kappa Sigma On December 10, 1869, five students at the University of Virginia met in 46 East Lawn and founded the Kappa Sigma fraternity. William Grigsby McCormick, George Miles Arnold, John Covert Boyd, Edmund Law Rogers, Jr., and Frank Courtney Nicodemus established the fraternity based on the traditions of the Kirjath Sepher, an ancient order at the University of Bologna in the Middle Ages. These five founders became collectively known as the "Five Friends and Brothers." In 1872, Kappa Sigma initiated Stephen Alonzo Jackson, who would go on to transform the struggling local fraternity into a strong international Brotherhood. In 1873, thanks to Jackson's work, Kappa Sigma expanded to Trinity College (now Duke University), the University of Maryland, and Washington and Lee University. Since then, Kappa Sigma has become a large international fraternity with over 300 active chapters and colonies in North America.
Early 1900s: residences, professional and women's fraternities In the beginning of the twentieth century the fraternity system continued to expand at such a rapid pace that university newspapers questioned if the increase in the number of fraternities would ever end. Many fraternity chapters were founded during this time that no longer exist at the university, such Alpha Chi Rho, Theta Nu Epsilon, and Delta Chi. Other chapters that are still active were founded at this time as well, such as Theta Chi and Phi Sigma Kappa.
Also, during this time, fraternities began to purchase and construct houses. During the late 1800s, fraternities did not have dedicated houses; instead, they inhabited residential areas scattered around grounds, such as Dawson's Row near the Lawn and boarding houses north of the university. In 1908, the university's Board of Visitors first offered a land lease and a $12,000 loan to Kappa Sigma to construct a fraternity house, and many other fraternities followed. Most of these were located just north of the Rotunda, on Rugby Road, Madison Lane, University Place, and the surrounding streets. Some of these houses cost up to $20,000 to build, and many drew inspiration from historic UVA buildings or residences of the Old South, using elements of Jeffersonian architecture. Two houses were even styled to closely resemble famous buildings in the area, with Zeta Psi's house modeled after Monticello and Farmington, and Phi Kappa Psi's house modeled after Carr's Hill. By 1916, most fraternities had built, purchased, or rented a house for their members.
Around the turn of the century, scholastic honor organizations appeared on grounds. The university chapter of Phi Beta Kappa () was founded in 1908, promoting scholarship in all fields of study. Different schools had specific honor and professional societies as well: Phi Delta Phi () for the law department, Phi Rho Sigma () for medicine, Kappa Delta Mu for chemistry, and many others. A chapter of Theta Tau (), an engineering society, was founded in 1923, and Trigon Engineering Society was founded in 1924 as a local fraternity for engineering students. Trigon and Theta Tau dominated student government in the Engineering School during this time, often fielding competing candidates for student office. Likewise in the university's College of Arts and Sciences, the University Party and the Cavalier Party were dominated by Lambda Pi and Skull & Keys.
It was during the first half of the twentieth century that the first women's fraternities were established. The university first admitted women to graduate programs in 1920, although undergraduate women were not allowed at the university until much later. With these graduate women came several organizations for women, referred to alternately as sororities or women's fraternities. The first sorority to establish a chapter at the university was Chi Omega (), whose chapter was founded in 1927. A Kappa Delta () chapter followed in 1932, and a chapter of Zeta Tau Alpha () was established twenty years later in 1952.
In 1947, with the inauguration of Colgate Darden as president of the university, first-year students were prohibited from joining fraternities and sororities. This restriction was later eased to a one-semester prohibition, which is still in place today. During this time only 20 percent of students were members of the 24 fraternities on grounds. Darden was critical of the fraternities' behavior, arguing in a 1949 report to the Board of Visitors that the groups had failed to uphold the interests of the university community and to provide the leadership expected of them.
Additionally, university leaders condemned the fraternities' treatment of their houses, which were extremely run down. Members would often solicit tens of thousands of dollars in donations from alumni to refurbish houses, only to see the improvements disappear within a few years. Despite the administrators' concerns, this problem was not addressed until 1983, when the university created the Historic Renovation Corporation, or HRC. The HRC, which later became a subsidiary of the UVA Foundation, renovates and manages the properties of several fraternity and sorority houses.
Late 1900s
Easters